Overhead costs are a fact of life for your company. However, utility costs could be causing your overhead to be exceptionally high. Luckily, PACE funding offers you low-cost financing for improvements that can help save you in electricity costs. Learn more about why your utility costs are so high and how you can reduce them easily and inexpensively.
Rising Utility Costs Can Hurt Your Business
You’ve likely noticed that your company’s utility bills are going up. In fact, utility costs are on the rise and are likely going to continue to increase. Over time, this can cost you a lot in overhead and impact your profits. Therefore, you may need PACE funding to cut utility costs and stay in business.
In the commercial sector, the current national price for one kilowatt hour (the amount of electricity you would use running a 1,000-watt appliance for one hour) is $10.60. However, the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts a 15-cent increase from that price in 2021. In the industrial sector, the price is expected to jump from $6.86 to $6.98. While a twelve or fifteen cent increase doesn’t seem like much, it can really add up. The U.S. Department of Energy, the average commercial facility uses about 22.5 kilowatt hours for every square foot of space. Therefore, long-term costs can become quite high.
Save With PACE Funding for Your Improvement Projects
PACE funding is a low-cost financing option that you pay each year as a special assessment on your property tax bill. The loan requirements for CPACE financing include projects that provide lasting value to your building. Additionally, the savings from your project should not only last longer than the loan term, but also exceed the cost of the loan. Therefore, PACE funding is a great way to invest in improvements that can help you save on utility bills.
However, there are some restrictions for PACE funding. Just as the loan stays with the building, the improvements also must be permanent to the building. Therefore, you can’t use PACE loans for appliances. Some examples of projects that you might be able to use CPACE financing for include:
- Installing more efficient lighting
- Upgrading your HVAC systems
- Installing high efficiency chillers
- Replacing fixtures with low flow water fixtures
To determine if the improvements you want to perform are PACE approved, talk to your PACE lenders about the particulars of your project. They can help you through the qualification project without increasing the cost or scope of your plans.
At Stonehill PACE, we specialize in providing PACE financing for commercial properties. We have unparalleled experience in the PACE lending industry and can help streamline the process for your approval and application. Our team of professionals maintain close relationships with PACE program administrators to stay up to date with each state’s PACE programs. Contact us today to start the approval process. We look forward to working with you.